The Esperanza Peace and Justice Center’s long-awaited Museo del Westside is set to open its doors Saturday, Oct. 18 at the historic Ruben’s Ice House. The museum highlights history and voices originating from the West Side.
Located in the Rinconcito de Esperanza on the corner of Guadalupe and South Colorado streets, the museum is dedicated to preserving the “unique history, heritage, culture, pride, work ethic, and diverse experiences” of the community.
“We’re able to put this museo up because of those who provided stories for us to tell,” said Graciela Sanchez, Esperanza Peace and Justice Center’s director. “Women in the area came forward and gave us stories to tell, so that’s what we did.”
The museum’s debut exhibition “Our Work Transforms the World” honors women in the community who were providers or embodied the community’s spirit through their work.
“We’ve had a couple people ask why we don’t really feature men. Well, who donated to us? Who donated their stories, their photographs, their artifacts? The women did.” Sanchez said. “As a museum, we have to work with what we’ve got.”
A donated sign from Romana Rios de Ramos’ midwife practice overhangs an exhibit wall in the Museo del Westside. Ramos operated a maternity home, La Casa de Maternidad, and practiced midwifery on the West Side of San Antonio for over 50 years. Credit: Amber Esparza / San Antonio Report
Museo del Westside’s grand opening will feature a stacked lineup of musical performances and workshops from local artists and families. There will be opening remarks from Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones, Councilwoman Teri Castillo (D5) and activist María Antonietta Berriozábal, who became the first Hispanic woman to serve on the city council of San Antonio in 1981.
The workshops will be presented and led by members of the museo’s community advisory committee, including Graciela Sanchez’s older brother Xavier Sanchez. He said he hopes the museum can help people see the West Side in a new light.
“There are a lot of harmful stereotypes about the Westside being a violent place,” he said. “I hope this museum helps people understand that, it’s not.”
Community advisory committee members also volunteer as tour guides for Esperanza Peace and Justice Center. Initially, they only served as guides for walking tours of the West Side, but now they will be guides for the museum too.
“This museum reflects what those of us who have spent our lives in the West Side see it as,” said Committee member David Gonzalez. “It’s a mirror to the West Side of its history and culture.”
The museo is located in what was formerly known as Ruben’s Ice House, a restaurant that once served as a meeting place for the community, and a small grocery store owned by the Reyes family.
The Ice House was known as a welcoming spot for all, serving businessmen, local politicians, and people from the community looking to enjoy a beer. Women sat outside in the patio area and watched their children play while their husbands drank inside.
The walk-in freezer the drinks were stored in remains intact and is on display in the museo.
San Antonio artist Miguel Rodriguez, 36, joined Museo del Westside as its lead exhibit designer two years ago but has been involved with the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center since he was a teenager. Credit: Amber Esparza / San Antonio Report
“What I wanted was to provide an interactive experience,” said Miguel Rodriguez, the museum’s lead exhibit designer.
The museo includes a few physical artifacts from the former businesses housing it, such as the cash register from the Reyes family’s grocery store and a replica of the jukebox used in the ice house.
“It’s even got the playlist they used back then,” Rodriguez said. “It’s full of musicians from here.”
The section of the museum housed in the former grocery store features other small businesses that once served the West Side, and displays maps and census data from different points in the community’s history.
Xavier Sanchez, a Museo del Westside community advisory committee member, museum guide and lifelong West Side resident, points out where his childhood home was on a map of the West Side, one of the museum’s interactive exhibits. Credit: Amber Esparza / San Antonio Report
“They had a credit system where they would write down what people took and they could come pay for it whenever they had the money,” said Xavier Sanchez. “I asked one of the Reyes’ once, ‘What happened if someone didn’t pay?’ She told me it never happened. Everyone always paid.”
The Esperanza Center acquired Ruben’s Ice House in 2007 and planning for the Museo del Westside began later that year. After years of fundraising, construction on the former community space started in 2022.
Three years later, the museo is finally ready to welcome the public.
“I was born and raised here, but I stayed to keep my kids connected to their cultural roots,” Xavier Sanchez said. “Truly, there’s no place like home. Mexican culture is still alive here. The museo will show people what the West Side is really like, beyond the negative stereotypes.”